Numbers (usually) don't lie, and the stark truth of the NHL and NBA standings indicate a spring without playoffs for the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers. Instead of the postseason, we enter whisper season, and the rumor mongering is in full flight.

View full sizePhiladelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov glances at the scoreboard during an NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens, Wednesday, April 3, 2013, in Philadelphia. AP photo / Matt Slocum

Earlier this week, sports-talk station 97.5 The Fanatic, which also is the Flyers' flagship radio station, first reported that Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had fallen asleep in a team meeting and subsequently was benched for Tuesday's game, a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders. Bryzgalov forcefully denied the report, and a number of his teammates, as well as coach Peter Laviolette, supported Bryzgalov.

Harry Mayes, the 97.5 talker who broke the story, is standing by it, attributing his information to "someone close to the organization,'' according to Philly.com.

The offbeat Russian has not been the stopper in net the Flyers hoped they were getting when they signed him (painful contract reminder: nine years, $51 million, $5.67 million salary cap hit) in June 2011. For the money, you'd like to see a superstar, not mere competence. But on many nights this season, Bryzgalov has been the Flyers' best player, including Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators that essentially doomed their last playoff hopes.

Staring at a drop in the salary cap and the chance to lose that boat anchor of a contract, the Flyers certainly would be making a prudent decision if they use the amnesty provision and rid themselves of Bryzgalov. But why disparage him on his way out the door? He might not have gotten them the Stanley Cup, or even a whiff of it. But Bryzgalov isn't responsible for the lack of scoring, the lack of blue line depth and, unconscionably, the lack of effort demonstrated by this year's disappointing outfit.

There's a lot of blame to go around. General Manager Paul Holmgren went for home-run pitches to big-name free agent defensemen Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, struck out, and didn't have a viable Plan B. Captain Claude Giroux had a noticeable dropoff in play (popularly attributed to the free-agent exit of ancient warrior Jaromir Jagr), and he couldn't rally the locker room to overcome a series of injuries.

But (whisper ... whisper) the quirky, expensive Bryzgalov has been set up as the fall guy. It's as true as it is fair.

Of course, the Flyers shouldn't be the only team in the Wells Fargo Center with a soap opera. Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Bob Ford wrote on Friday that the 76ers would be quite willing to see coach Doug Collins out the door, citing the ever-helpful team sources.

The Sixers are a Superfund site after the Andrew Bynum trade fiasco. Collins, who is fueled by winning, isn't built for the task of rebuilding a team. As Ford pointed out, Collins has done a pretty stellar job to pull 32 wins out of this outfit.

But he's the epitome of a guy who has a short shelf life with a team; he's never lasted more than three seasons in stops at Chicago, Detroit and Washington. Perhaps the Sixers believe in past being prologue.

From this vantage point, however, Collins is being assigned blame far beyond his culpability. Must be something in the air at the WFC.